Mark snapped back to reality in time to turn off the fires before they burned anything else. Behind him, he heard the sounds of blades clashing. Turning around he glimpsed the final blow. While the enemy swordsman had his focus on Lyn, Kent had casually trotted up behind him and stuck him with a lance. The look on the swordsman's face was priceless. Confusion, shock, a hint of pain. Mark walked over to the scene. Lyn was panting heavily, having killed several people in a manner of minutes, scaring off plenty more. Kent and Sain had done a nice job with the enemies that Mark told them to fight, as they were all huddled against the wall, weapons taken away and hands bound. Kent removed the swordsman from his lance and began to clean it.

"You could have come to tell us that we were needed, you know?" Mark said to Lyn.

Lyn shook her head. "No, there was no time. Besides, I couldn't help myself. I couldn't let them get away with this."

Mark sighed. "Yeah, ok. I'll start cleaning up." Mark started walking back towards his pile of victims. "Oh, also, I'm sorry about the wall. Couldn't be helped." As mark started dragging bodies out of the shrine, Lyn and the knights went to talk to the head of the shrine that they had rescued.

I really destroyed these poor men. Mark thought. I should look into less… drawn out means of death. It was the right thing for the situation though, and he knew it. It was the fastest way to get rid of all of them at the same time, but if he had more time he might have done more to make their ends less… like that. Or if he had some people to defend him, but they had their own fights at the time. As he was finishing up dragging the last body outside, a sudden flash of light happened from the shrine, followed by a surprised yelp.

As the light faded, Mark cracked his eyes open to see Lyn holding a deadly looking blade. He could make it out clearly, Mark saw that it's design allowed it to cut through heavy armor easily. It's length would provide help against mounted units as well. It was ornate, almost sacred looking. Then he remembered where he had seen it, sketched in a book he had read about Sacae's history. The Mani Katti. It certainly lived up to it's status.

Lyn turned to the priestly looking man wide eyed and asked something that Mark couldn't make out. He jogged over to investigate.

"...has chosen it's wielder!" he heard the high priest say as he approached.

Lyn processed this and looked back at the sword, almost in fear. It's pale glow seemed to call her down somewhat. "I-I don't know if I'm worthy of this… This is the sacred blade after all, if I take it with me how are the people of Sacae going to pray to it when…" Lyn trailed off as the priest shook his head and waved his hands no.

"The Mani Katti has a mind of it's own, and it has made it's own decision. To deny it would be to deny the very thing you are saying you want to preserve." Unsurprisingly, this made Lyn pale slightly, but she stared at the sword with new determination.

"Thank you." Lyn said, bowing slightly. "I will use it well, I swear it." The priest gave her a small blessing and started to wander around the shrine, setting things back into place with a few other locals.

"Excellently done, Lady Lyndis." Kent said formally, placing a hand on his chest and bowing toward her. "I would expect nothing less from you. Rest assured, at least in my eyes, you are truly worthy of the blade."

Before Lyn got the chance to respond Sain ran up and put an arm around her. "Lady Lyndis the glow of that blade truly brings out the color in your eyes! I know you are destined to be a pair." He faked a sniffle. "Alas, it seems my spot has been taken."

"Sain." Kent said softly, but sharply.

Sain whimpered slightly and whispered. "I hope you two are happy together." He retracted his arm and skipped away, wiping fake tears. Lyn took it in stride, laughing as Kent went to reprimand his partner. Mark walked up to her as she finished laughing.

"We've found some fun travelling companions, haven't we Mark?" She said, turning to face him, new sword still gleaming in hand. She looked more lively with the blade, more so than when she held her normal sword. Mark made note of this. As his knightly friends had said, she was fit to wield it.

Mark cracked a smile. "We sure do. Makes me wonder why I didn't bring a friend of mine along in my journey. Perhaps I really was just being stubborn when I left."

Lyn looked at him curiously. "I don't mean to pry about your journey, I know it's personal to you, but what was your friend's name?"

Mark shrugged. "Eh… Doesn't matter."

"Sure it does." Lyn insisted. "I want to get to know you better, we hardly know anything about you."

"Yes, I know, but…" Mark looked to the side and sighed. "It doesn't matter. Really. He's a boring sort anyways."

Lyn laughed at this. "Well, ok, but keep dodging simple questions like this and you might just be "the boring sort" as well." They both got a good laugh out of this, and the knights came back.

"Aw, what did we miss?" Sain said poutily. "We leave for one minute and suddenly this hall is filled with laughter."

"I'll admit, I am also curious." Kent tossed in.

Lyn giggled to herself. "Oh nothing. Mark's just being Mark."

"...Just being Mark?" Mark said flatly. Lyn smiled at him knowingly and looked at the knights.

"Well, what do you think? How far away is Caelin now?"

Kent thought for a moment. "I would say at least a week, perhaps a week and a half. Considering, of course, if we have no more distractions like this, not that I mean to disrespect your decision, Lady Lyndis."

Lyn nodded sagely. "Very well, let's continue on." After stepping outside the shrine, over the bodies of the bandits, they all got on the two horses, this time with Mark accompanying Kent and Lyn riding with Sain (who was all too overjoyed at the prospect), and together they set off again. As Mark read his book, his mind began to wonder. He wondered why he couldn't bring himself say his friend's name to Lyn. After all there was no harm in a name. Was it a wish to remain somewhat mysterious? If so, why? Did he not fully trust these people yet? There was no reason not to and he knew it. Yet, he still felt distant. He wondered why. Eventually, he just stopped thinking about it. It saddened him. With his mind buried, he ended up falling asleep, closing his book and placing it in his coat just before passing out.


When he did manage to wake up again, he felt somewhat better about it, but still not good. His eyes sleepily opened to a campfire, two knights and a noble lady sitting, laughing, roasting a bird one had killed. The scenery was no longer an endless field of grass, but a mountainside, only one in a whole range. Mark yawned and rolled off the horse. He found a suitable stone and began to read it. This one proposed the theory that magic is a form of emotion. It argues that magic only becomes powerful with powerful emotion. One cannot cast Meteor without feeling a strong desire to do so. Mark saw what it was trying to say, but it was already a false theory. The simplest form of counter argument was that, if all that was needed was emotion, training wouldn't be as necessary. In order to wield magic one needed to train. Still, the theory really appealed to Mark. He wished it was how magic truly worked. Suddenly a shadow appeared over him. His eyes rose up to see Sain's lopsided smile.

"Is that all you ever do?" He asked, gesturing to the book. Mark didn't answer. He didn't know how. Sain took his silence as an opportunity to plop down next to him on the rock. Mark looked at the campfire to see that both Kent and Lyn had fallen asleep. Mark wasn't tired due to his nap on Sain's horse. Sain showed no signs of being tired. Mark sighed and closed his book.

"Funny to hear that coming from you." Mark retorted.

Sain tilted his head to the side. "How do you mean?"

"Well, from what I've gathered, you know how to flirt and to stick people with a lance, and… that seems to be about it really." Mark said bluntly. Sain actually responded by laughing.

"Well, what can I say? I'm a simple man. I need only a few things to be great at, and the right person will come along. I know it." He said.

"Then why do you flirt with every woman you meet."

"How else would the right person know I exist unless I tell them? And who knows who it could be?" Sain turned to Mark and smiled excitedly. "Isn't the thought just so exciting?!"

His enthusiasm was so incredibly true and heartfelt that Mark almost began to wish he was that special someone. Afterall, people as honest and straightforward as Sain seemed to be where far and few between. "Well I suppose so." Mark said, leaning back and looking at the sky.

"Glad you agree." Sain said, also leaning back. "The stars are truly beautiful tonight. I used to watch the stars like this with my sister. Our house was more country-side, so we were never blocked by city light." Mark considered this. He'd known of the stars his whole life, of course, but he lived in a city all of his childhood. The first time he saw the stars was the night he left.

"You have a sister?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, I do, a little sister. Her name is Emily. She's just the sweetest little thing in the world." Sain chuckled. "One time, we were trying to pick some apples and accidently knocked over a beehive. Scared our parents half to death when we walked into the house that day. Our faces were all blotched from the stinging after all. They thought we got into some sort of scrap. What about you? Do you have any sisters?"

"...Two. One older one younger." Mark said quietly.

"What are their names?" Sain said excitedly. Mark hesitated. This is exactly what he couldn't bring himself to do with his best friend earlier. How could he give up the names of his sisters? But it bothered him, it bothered him that he couldn't bring himself to tell Lyn a simple name, it bothered him that he didn't trust these people, it bothered him the way Lyn said 'Mark being Mark', but most of all it bothered him that it bothered him. He steeled himself. Sain was just so true in his conversation-making that Mark felt safe to reveal himself a bit more than he felt he could to the others. Maybe he and Sain could become good friends after all.

"The little sister's name is Cecilia." Mark said smiling. He felt like a great weight had just been lifted.

"What a cute name!" Sain said. "And the older one?"

"...Ursula." He said. "She and I always got along better than we ever did with Cecilia. She usually spends more time with mother than father so… we usually don't see her very much."

"... I'm sorry to hear that." Sain said. He seemed truly broken up about it. "At least you got to spend time with her right?"

Mark nodded. "I know. We've always had a great connection to each other. One time, when we were practicing magic with father, we accidently set his beard on fire…" Mark trailed off. He gulped. "And we… that it we- no, sorry, he decided it would be best t-to uhm…" He blinked to stop a tear. "To uh… cancel the rest of the lessons for the day." Not untrue. "He was really mad, as y-you can imagine." When Mark looked at Sain, he was looking at him concerned. Mark sniffed. "Wh-what? It's just kind've cold."

Sain nodded sagely. "Ah, that explains it. Afterall, it sounds like such a fond memory for you. It's hard to imagine you would be sad after such time with your loved ones." Mark nodded.

"Yes I suppose so." Mark confirmed. He felt Sain's hand slap him lightly on the back.

"Well, I feel like we know each other a lot better now. Doesn't it feel good?" Sain said happily.

Mark smiled at him. "...yeah, I guess I do. Thank you Sain. You're a kind soul." Sain yawned.

"Well, it's been a long day. I'm afraid I have to get some sleep. You should do the same. But I must say, I may be too excited to fall asleep. Afterall, tomorrow will be quite fun."

"What happening tomorrow?" Mark asked.

"Tomorrow, dearest Mark," Sain said, "Lady Lyndis will owe me a gold coin."

Mark's eyebrows creased in confusion. "Why…?"

Sain smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We made a bet to see who could make you open up a little first. Looks like I win." Surprisingly, Mark wasn't even mad. He chuckled. He laughed. He began to bellow even. The situation made him realize just how much of a pompous as he was really being. It was one thing to call someone a friend. It was another to treat them like one. Despite his clear shortcomings in many areas, Sain was a smart guy. Mark stuck out a hand for a handshake and Sain took it eagerly.

"Not bad Sain." He said smiling. "Not bad at all."

Sain retreated to his cot and Mark continued to look at the sky. Ursula. He thought. I should have insisted you come with me. I know why you didn't but… Mark shook his head. I was just so caught up in making a statement on one of the occasions where mom was actually there. It was a spur of the moment decision, but I don't regret it. I hope you can forgive me. With that final thought in his mind, he drifted off to sleep just as the sky began to brighten with a new day. In this moment, Mark's worries melted away as though they were never there. His conversation with Sain had inspired him, and he swore he would be open with his new friends. Well, about things of no consequence, at least.

A/N- Matt: hhhhhoooooooooook I did it, it's here, I'm sorry it took so long, but here we are. It was almost done by the end of July and then I went on vacation and then I started getting ready for school and then I actually GOT to school so I mean you get the gist. In that time though, I ironed out a few things long term for this story, some of which I've already begun to elaborate on, as you can see in this chapter. There are still plenty more connections Mark has throughout Elibe however, many of which have not even had a hint of mention yet so stay tuned. I hope you enjoyed, and as always, thanks for stoppin in and takin the time to read. If I'm optimistic, I'd hope to get another chapter out by the end of the month. For now it's 4 AM. Toodles.